Fluorescent light bulbs have become popular among consumers for a variety of reasons. For example, they are typically more energy efficient than conventional incandescent bulbs. In addition, fluorescent bulbs provide soft, even lighting in comparison to the bright "hot spots" exhibited in most incandescent bulbs. Thus, consumers often prefer fluorescent bulbs to incandescent bulbs in many lighting applications.
Although fluorescent bulbs offer several advantages over incandescent light bulbs, certain features of incandescent bulbs that are not typically found in fluorescent bulbs are considered desirable. In particular, incandescent light bulbs generally provide a roughly "point" source of light so that the light radiates in a substantially spherical pattern. It is well known that substantially all of the light which radiates from a point source can be focused in one direction by providing a parabolic reflective housing which surrounds the light source. This effect is commonly exhibited in flashlights and other unidirectional lighting devices. When the light source is positioned at the focal point of the parabola defined by the reflective housing, light radiating in any direction from the point source will be reflected in approximately the same direction as the rest of the light emanating from the source. Thus, incandescent bulbs that are properly positioned within parabolic reflective housings provide a means of producing strong (i.e., high intensity), unidirectional lighting.
In contrast, fluorescent bulbs typically emit light uniformly over the entire length of the bulb, rather than from a "point" filament, so that when a fluorescent tube is placed within a parabolic reflective housing, only light from a single spot (i.e., the spot which is situated at the focal point of the parabolic housing) will be reflected unidirectionally. For this reason, it is difficult to focus all of the useful light radiated from a fluorescent bulb in a desired direction. Thus, in applications where it is desired to provide strong, unidirectional lighting, it is often impractical to use a fluorescent bulb. Therefore, in spite of the advantages provided by fluorescent bulbs, consumers often use incandescent bulbs for applications where it is desired to provide strong, unidirectional lighting.
Thus, a need exists for a fluorescent bulb assembly that is capable of producing unidirectional lighting which has an intensity that is comparable to the intensity provided by incandescent light bulbs within parabolic reflective housings.